LENOX HILL

Out of date and out of step with the times, this lobby needed help.

A name on the awning is just the beginning of a building's brand.

Disgruntled shareholder’s claim of mismanagement is ruled “speculation.”

Though the courts usually grant board requests, some are denied.

Even the best contingency plan can't prepare a board for unforeseeable surprises.

Gerry Maughan’s stint on a town council prepared him for board service.

A visionary board and supportive shareholders add up to “unique” harmony.

Reskinning replaces leaky white bricks with handsome red ones.

Co-op board removes leaky white bricks and reskins its entire building. 

For such a relatively rare real-estate instrument, ground leases have been in the news a fair bit lately. And now the shareholders of Trump Plaza, at 167 East 61st Street in Manhattan, are getting news they might prefer to live without. As Bloomberg Businessweek reports, the family that owns the land beneath the 31-year-old luxury co-op wants to sell it — and the $185 million that the co-op board offered could hit some residents with an assessment of more than $1 million each. “People are calling me to stop this from happening,” said attorney Adam Leitman Bailey, principal of his namesake firm, who has been contacted by some owners wanting to keep the sale, and the assessment, from happening. But equally concerning is how much the ground-lease rent would go up another, outside buyer. In that scenario, the board projects, a monthly maintenance fee of $2,100 would increase to $9,800 when the lease resets in 20124.